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Wednesday, January 16, 2013

Gun control and thugs...er, politicians- part two

So let us reason together, my friends. President Obama has decided to work around Congress and the Constitution 23 times today on the subject of gun control. To be fair, let's look at what he's commanded from the bully pulpit:

1. Issue a Presidential Memorandum to require federal agencies to make relevant data available to the federal background check system. Shouldn't they be doing that anyway?... 2. Address unnecessary legal barriers, particularly relating to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, that may prevent states from making information available to the background check system. Basically, this revolves around doctors sending pertinent mental health info to said databases. We can argue this as an invasion of privacy all we want, but if it gets a Holmes or a Klebold off the streets, I'm fine with it- WITH the caveat that we all get a look at what constitutes an "unnecessary legal barrier first.

3. Improve incentives for states to share information with the background check system. IMHO, The only incentive should be to prevent any more Sandy Hooks. In this case, I wouldn't mind seeing Obama use the stick rather than the carrot, but entitlements are the Democrat way.

4. Direct the Attorney General to review categories of individuals prohibited from having a gun to make sure dangerous people are not slipping through the cracks. My only problem with this is that our current AG ought to fall into one of said categories.

5. Propose rulemaking to give law enforcement the ability to run a full background check on an individual before returning a seized gun. As long as it includes record checking on legal and illegal aliens, politicians, and union and NAACP officials as well as white Republicans. If you think that is an unnecessary caveat, have you paid attention what has gone on in Arizona the last couple of years?

6. Publish a letter from ATF to federally licensed gun dealers providing guidance on how to run background checks for private sellers. I'm thinking they can keep that with the book they already have and ignore due to lack of inforcement.

7. Launch a national safe and responsible gun ownership campaign. NRA already does this. And so do many local police departments.

9. Issue a Presidential Memorandum to require federal law enforcement to trace guns recovered in criminal investigations. IOW, the FBI will have to process EVERY gun from EVERY crime. I'm sure they'll jump right on that.

10. Release a DOJ report analyzing information on lost and stolen guns and make it widely available to law enforcement. Has it been written? Have you talked to LEOs about what kind of data would be helpful? 11. Nominate an ATF director. Did you know we have only had "acting directors" of the ATF since Carl Truscott resigned over abuse of position in 2006- and the current guy is the 5th AD since then? Including three just in 2009?

12. Provide law enforcement, first responders, and school officials with proper training for active shooter situations. Once again, shouldn't this already be in place? At least for the first two... I am more than fine with the third.

13. Maximize enforcement efforts to prevent gun violence and prosecute gun crime. Shoot, Karen Richards will have to do her job then! As will Rusty York.

14. Issue a Presidential Memorandum directing the Centers for Disease Control to research the causes and prevention of gun violence. How does prevention of gun violence fall under CDC perview?

15. Direct the Attorney General to issue a report on the availability and most effective use of new gun safety technologies and challenge the private sector to develop innovative technologies. So now we think all those kids died because Adam Lanza forgot to set his safety?

16. Clarify that the Affordable Care Act does not prohibit doctors asking their patients about guns in their homes. I liked the comment about this I saw on Facebook- "Oops there's another thing we forgot to read before we signed the bill..."

17. Release a letter to health care providers clarifying that no federal law prohibits them from reporting threats of violence to law enforcement authorities. Why is this a concern?

18. Provide incentives for schools to hire school resource officers. I didn't even know what a school resource officer was. " A School Resource Officer (SRO) is a law enforcement officer who is assigned to either an elementary, middle, or high school. The main goal of the SRO is to prevent juvenile delinquency by promoting positive relations between youth and law enforcement. " Among the things you can say about this is, an "incentive" will need to translate into "a way to pay for them". 19. Develop model emergency response plans for schools, houses of worship and institutions of higher education. I got nothing here. Good idea. 20. Release a letter to state health officials clarifying the scope of mental health services that Medicaid plans must cover. More "if I'd only read my copy of the Obamacare bill" memos.

22. Commit to finalizing mental health parity regulations. Ditto. 23. Launch a national dialogue led by Secretaries Sebelius and Duncan on mental health. Secretary Sebelius' sole qualification for this post (as well as her post at HHS) seems to be she headed the Democrat Governor's group and was pro-choice. Secretary Duncan of DOE was the CEO of Chicago Public Schools, which might not say much about his qualifications for his secretaryship, but speaks volumes about his experience (or need of it) in the mental health field.So, by the mighty Martin toteboard, the great executive order score is:Okay with this (5 points): 5 entries.So far as it goes (4 points): 2.Really shouldn't have to do this (3 points): 3.Should have been doing this already, or already are doing through current agencies (2 points):3.Wouldn't have to be done had you taken the time to write Obamacare properly in the first place (1 point): 5.Yeah, sure (0 points): 5.Total score: 2.3 (which means it is mainly "should be doing this already").Or to look at it another way, 30.4% of this is good ideas, 43.4% is either stupid or really stupid, and 26.7% of it, while not stupid, really isn't neccessary. Either way, it's much better than the usual batting average the POTUS has managed in his four years, so, as a certain national Washington columnist says at the end of a piece, "Congrats... or something."

I find it very hard to take any of this seriously anymore. You have people on the extreme right freaking out about new gun regulations, and then you have people on the extreme left freaking out about guns in general. After sifting through mountains of editorials, propaganda pieces, and actual laws they are trying to sneak through unnoticed I just completely give up. I don't entirely disagree with the things that are being proposed as far as regulations go, but I'm concerned that the interpretation of said regulations will become complete chaos. Not that things can become much more chaotic than they already are. All I can really do is shake my head, and know that in the end God is in control of it all.

I have a lot of FB friends that will probably accuse me of blasphemy for half of this post, so believe me I know where you are at. I don't disagree with most of them either- I find a lot of them redundant or not germaine, but not yet objectionable- But I disagree both with the way Obama is doing it and the reasons that caused him to feel (probably rightly)he had to do it this way.

Well the way they are talking about it all on our news, none of it will happen anyway.The other guys will either shut it down or tie it up in legal challenges and nothing with change. You all will still get to go out and buy your military assult rifles without fear.

Sweetheart, it is not about allowing assault rifles or not. It is about A0 like Elsie siad, how manu other levels of control of our freedom we are going to allow, B) how much of it will make absolutely no difference if we do it, and C) the extralegal approach Obama is taking to do it.

Sorry if that sounds snippy, but people who don't understand all the dynamics involved are making unfair judgements about what is at stake here. I have no intent to buy an assault rifle, and could care less if they tried to control them. But I am also not a fool that believes that they are the big problem. Chicago has some of the tightest gun control laws in the nation and one of the highest murder rates to go along with it. That happens because, just like in Ft Wayne, the perps have no fear of consequences.

But now everybody is concentrated on the Great Evil. I credited Obama with the things he's trying to do to attack source problems- modifying what schools have as resources and what they are trained for, and looking into the mental health aspects, as well as streamlining the sharing process. But people who make misguided comments about "all the one side wants is guns" are as much the problem as the misguided people on the other side who want us all to have RPGs in our front window.

Not offended, but have been dealing from a lot of attitude from liberals who are on the "guns are bad period" side who phrase things just like that. I guess you get frustrated after showing in several posts that you are being a moderate on the issue, and have stated that both sides are doing stupid things, and then a comment comes by that, intentionally or not, makes you sound like a raving gun addict.

I had an anonymous comment like that on an earlier post, and it made me pretty darn sensitive about being lumped into a group I don't belong to, especially when I do agree with MOST of what they espouse, but am trying hard to see both sides. And when the post makes it seem like all of my careful analysis was thrown out in favor just "lumping me in..." I know you didn't mean it that way, but I thought it important for those who don't read carefully to be reminded- really look at the position before accusing.

Well, Bob, when one tries to stay out of the masses on the extreme ends of the two sides and tries to see what might actually be good for the country, it's a bit easier to look at things objectively. Not being a "gun guy", I don't actually have a dog in the hunt, so I can call foul on either side when its called for.

About Me

A lone man looking for means of expression in a tsunami of information. Seeking truth justice and the American way in the perspective of a Nixon conservative. And the Commissioner of the free world's smallest and best fantasy football league.